Refrigeration device and air-distributor valve for said refrigeration device

ABSTRACT

An air distributor valve, in particular for distributing cold air to various chambers of a refrigeration device, includes a housing having at least a first and a second inlet, at least a first and a second outlet and a control body. The control body can be rotated in the housing about an axis, between a first open position, in which the control body connects the first inlet of the housing to the first outlet and blocks off the second outlet from the second inlet, and a second open position, in which the control body blocks off the first outlet from the first inlet and connects the second inlet to the second outlet.

The present invention relates to a refrigeration device, especially a household refrigeration device, and to an air distributor valve which is able to be used in such a refrigeration device to distribute cooled air to compartments of the refrigeration device.

In combination refrigeration devices, i.e. refrigeration devices with a number of storage chambers held at different temperatures, it is known per se to cool a storage chamber by applying cold air from a colder chamber to it. This colder chamber for its part can be a storage chamber, especially a freezer chamber, of the refrigeration device, but it can also involve an evaporator chamber which does not itself accommodate any refrigerated items, and from which the cold air is distributed to the various storage chambers. In general a flap is needed between the colder chamber and the chamber cooled by it in order to allow the flow of the cold air or to inhibit it where necessary if it is not required. In particular in a combination device with a plurality of storage chambers the number of flaps required and the control elements necessary to actuate them lead to considerable installation outlay.

The object of the invention is to create a refrigeration device or an air distributor valve for a refrigeration device which makes it possible, with a simple, efficiently-installable structure, to control the distribution of cold air to chambers of the refrigeration device.

The object is achieved on one hand by an air distributor valve with a housing having at least a first and a second inlet and at least a first and a second outlet and a control body which is able to be rotated about an axis between a first open position, in which it connects the first inlet of the housing with the first outlet and blocks off the second outlet from the second inlet, and a second open position, in which it blocks off the first outlet from the first inlet and connects the second inlet to the second outlet.

Preferably first and second inlet are aligned with each other in the direction of the axis so that both inlets can be conveniently connected to an equally cold chamber, from which the cold air is distributed to storage chambers of the refrigeration device connected to the outlets.

The control body is preferably divided in the direction of the axis into a first section controlling the passage of air between the first inlet and outlet and a second section controlling the passage of air between the second inlet and outlet.

In order to make possible the passage of the air through the air distributor valve with a minimum of flow resistance, the first inlet and outlet are preferably delimited by two walls in each case in a sectional plane running transverse to the axis and the control body has two walls which in the first open position continuously connect one of the walls of the inlet and of the outlet to one another. A corresponding structure is preferably also provided for the second inlet and outlet in a section along a sectional plane running transverse to the axis.

In an intermediate position between first and second open position the control body can connect both the first inlet to the first outlet and also the second inlet to the second outlet, wherein however the passage cross-section between first inlet and outlet is smaller than in the first open position and the passage cross-section between second inlet and outlet is smaller than in the second open position. In that the control body in each case can be rotated via the intermediate position from the first into the second open position and back again, a complete blocking off of the distributor valve during the rotation is avoided. Thus the airflow through the valve is retained during the adjustment and does not have to be set in train again with a delay only once a new open position has been reached.

The sum of the passage cross-sections in the intermediate position is preferably equal to the passage cross-section between first inlet and outlet in the first open position and the passage cross-section between second inlet and outlet in the second open position. Thus the passage of air through the valve can be essentially kept the same when the valve is being rotated between first and second open position. If the passage cross-section between the first inlet and outlet in the first open position and the passage cross-section between second inlet and outlet in the second open position are different, the sum of the passage cross-sections in the intermediate position preferably lies between the passage cross-sections of the open positions in order to avoid an abrupt change of the passage of air on transition between first and second open position.

In order to guarantee an even distribution of the supplied cold air over the width of a chamber supplied via the first outlet, the first inlet and outlet can be divided into two parts at axially spaced first segments of the housing, between which at least one second segment of the housing is located, which in each case has at least one part of the second inlet and outlet. The second inlet and the second outlet can likewise be divided into segments separated from one another; since however the second outlet can essentially open out centrally into the chamber supplied by it, a sufficiently even distribution of the cold air to this chamber can be achieved even without subdividing the second outlet.

Preferably the housing also has a third inlet and a third outlet and in a third open position the control body connects the third inlet to the third outlet while the first and second inlets and outlets are blocked off from one another in each case. With such an air distributor valve the cold air distribution can be controlled to three storage chambers of a combination refrigeration device, typically a freezer chamber, a fresh produce refrigerator chamber and a normal refrigerator chamber.

Preferably the control body is able to be rotated here from the second via the first into the third open position.

In a similar manner to that described for the intermediate position between first and open position, the control body, in an intermediate position between first and third open position, should connect both the first inlet to the first outlet and also the third inlet to the third outlet, in order to avoid an interruption of the cold air flow on transition between first and third open position.

Here too the passage cross-section between first inlet and outlet is preferably smaller in the intermediate position than in the first open position and the passage cross-section between third inlet and outlet is smaller in the intermediate position than in the third open position.

Preferably the third inlet is aligned in the direction of the axis with the first and the second inlet, in order to be supplied with cold air from the same chamber as said inlets.

In order to the able to provide a plurality of chambers with cold air over short paths via the air distributor valve it is however of advantage for at least one of the outlets to be offset in relation to the other outlets in the circumferential direction of the housing.

An electric motor for rotating the control body can be an element of the air distributor valve. In order to be able to move to the different open positions in a reproducible manner a stepping motor can especially be used; as an alternative an angle sensor can be provided in order to detect the orientation of the control body and to control the electric motor in accordance with the detected orientation.

A further object of the invention is a refrigeration device, especially a household refrigeration device with an air distributor valve as described above and at least one first storage chamber into which the first outlet opens out and a second storage chamber into which the second outlet opens out.

If the inlets of the air distributor valve are connected to an evaporator chamber, a bypass can extend outside the air distributor valve from the evaporator chamber to one of the storage chambers. Thus in each case only a part of the airflow circulating through the evaporator chamber is controlled by the air distributor valve, the remainder always reaches said storage chamber, generally the cold storage chamber of the device, via the bypass. Since the other storage chambers exclusively receive cold air via the air distributor valve, the throughput of cold air through these chambers is markedly smaller than the throughput through the coldest chamber and the danger of undercooling is low.

Preferably the storage chambers are disposed on different sides of the partition wall and the air distributor valve is disposed in the partition wall itself.

The inlets are preferably located on the same side of the partition wall as the first outlet. They can thus accept cold air from the same chamber into which the first outlet emits cold air or a cold chamber, especially an evaporator chamber from which the air distributor valve is supplied with cold air and one of the storage chambers, preferably the coldest storage chamber, can be provided in an energy-saving manner on the same side of the partition wall.

When the air distributor valve as described above has a third outlet, said outlet can expediently be connected to a third storage chamber.

Further features and advantages of the invention emerge from the description given below of exemplary embodiments, which refers to the enclosed figures. Features of the exemplary embodiment which are not mentioned in the claims also result from this description and the figures. Such features can also occur in combinations other than those explicitly disclosed here. The fact that a number of such features are mentioned in a same sentence or in another type of context does not justify the conclusion that they can only occur in the specifically disclosed combination; instead it should basically be assumed that individual features of the number of such features can also be omitted or modified, provided this does not call the functional capability of the invention into question. In the figures:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an inventive air distributor valve;

FIG. 2 shows the air distributor valve of FIG. 1 with cut-away housing and control body visible inside the housing.

FIG. 3 shows the cut-away housing of the air distributor valve without control body;

FIG. 4 shows the control body without the housing;

FIG. 5 shows a view of the housing from above;

FIG. 6 shows a view of the housing from below;

FIG. 7 shows sections transverse to the axis of the control body along the planes labeled A, B, C, D in FIGS. 5 and 6 in a first open position;

FIG. 8 shows sections similar to FIG. 7 in a second open position;

FIG. 9 shows sections similar to FIG. 7 in a third open position;

FIG. 10 shows sections similar to FIG. 7 in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic cross-section through a refrigeration device with an air distributor valve in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the air distributor valve in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention in a perspective view. A housing 1 of the air distributor valve essentially takes the form of an elongated cylinder. An inlet opening 2 is formed on an underside of the housing 1 and extends in an axial direction essentially over its entire length. On the side facing towards the observer the inlet opening 2 is delimited by a wall 3 extending in a straight line in the axial direction. A wall 4 parallel to the wall 3, likewise delimiting the inlet opening 2, is to be seen in FIG. 3, which shows the housing 1 in a cut-away state. Webs 5, which extend from one wall 3 to the other wall 4, divide the inlet opening 2 into sections 8 to 11.

An outlet opening 12 on the upper side of the housing 1 is divided by walls 13, 14 in parallel to the longitudinal axis and by a web 15 connecting the walls 13, 14 into outlets 16, 17. The outlets 16, 17 intersect in the axial direction with the sections 9, 10 of the inlet opening 2. Further outlet openings 18, 19, which overlap in the axial direction with the sections 8, 11, formed on a lateral housing 1 facing away from the observer in FIG. 1.

One of these openings, labeled 19, can be seen in FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 shows the cut-away housing 1 with a control body 20 accommodated rotatably therein. The control body 20 is divided up by a number of circular plates 21 along its axis each lying in the same plane as one of the webs 5 or the web 15, into a number of sections 36, 37, 38, 39. Each of these sections 36, 37, 38, 39 comprises two curved walls which connect the plates 21 delimiting the section concerned. In the case of the two center sections 37, 38, these walls are labeled 22, 23 or 24, 25 respectively. The two outer sections 36, 39 are each only half as long as the central sections 37, 38, only one of the two walls can be seen in each case in FIG. 2 or 4, labeled 26.

A journal 28 of the control body 20 is used for coupling to an electric motor which, not shown in FIGS. 1-4, is intended to be accommodated in a chamber 29 of the housing 1.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the housing 1 in each case in a view from above or below respectively. In FIG. 5 in particular the outlet opening 12 facing upwards with the outlets 16, 17 as well as extensions 30 of the housing 1 can be seen, on the undersides of which the outlet openings 18, 19 are located. FIG. 6 shows the outlet openings 18, 19 as well as the elongated, rectangular inlet opening 2 divided into sections 8 to 11.

The way in which the air distributor valve functions is explained with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, which each show sections along the planes labeled A, B, C or D in FIGS. 5 and 6. The plane A runs through the chamber 29 and the electric motor accommodated therein, labeled with 31 here. Shown on a journal 28 penetrating into the chamber 29 is an orientation mark 32. Also shown around the journal 28 are three sensors 33 for detecting the orientation mark 32 on the one hand in the orientation of FIG. 7, on the other hand in the orientations of FIGS. 8 and 9, on the basis of the detection signals of which the rotation of the motor 31 can be stopped in each case on reaching the orientation shown in FIG. 7, 8, 9. Naturally, instead of the one orientation mark 32 and the number of sensors 33, also a single sensor could interact with a number of orientation marks of the journal 28. As an alternative the sensors 33 could also be omitted completely if the electric motor 31 is a stepping motor.

FIG. 7 shows the orientation mark 32 in a 12 o'clock position. As can be seen in cross-section B, in this orientation the wall 26 of the control body 20 extends the wall 3 of the inlet opening 2 continuously to an outer wall 34 of the extension 30, and a wall 27 of the control body 20 hidden in FIGS. 2 and 4 forms a continuous curve between the wall 4 of the inlet opening 2 and an inner wall 35 of the extension 30. Thus an air duct of an essentially constant cross-section extends from section 8 of the inlet opening 2 to the outlet opening 18. In the cross-section C of the figure the wall 23 blocks off the section 9 of the inlet opening 2, and in the cross-section C of the figure the wall 25 blocks off the section 10. A section through the outlet opening 19 along the plane B′ in FIG. 5 or 6 would look exactly the same as a section along the plane B and is therefore not shown separately. Cold air fed in at the inlet opening 2 of the housing 1 can therefore only leave the valve via the outlet openings 18, 19. The sections 8, 11 of the inlet opening can therefore be construed as a single inlet 7, but also locally divided into two and the outlet openings 18, 19 construed as a single outlet of the air distributor valve.

In FIG. 8 the control body 20 is rotated by 60° in the counterclockwise direction in relation to the orientation of FIG. 7. The walls 26 block off the sections 8, 11 and the wall 25 continues to block off the section 10 of the inlet opening 2. At section 9 the wall 23 of the control body 20 continuously connects the wall 13 of the inlet opening 2 to the wall 13 of the outlet 16, while the wall 22 connects the walls 4 and 14 continuously to one another, so that an air duct leads through the valve from section 9 to outlet 16.

In FIG. 9 the control body 20 is rotated by 60° in the clockwise direction in relation to the orientation of FIG. 7. Here the walls 24, 25 form a continuous transition between the walls 3, 4 of the inlet 10 and 13, 14 of the outlet 17, while the inlets 8, 9 are blocked off.

In the same sense in which the sections 9, 10 of the inlet opening 2 can be construed as self-contained inlets 9, 10, since they can be open or closed independently of one another, the sections 8, 11, since they are either both open or both closed, can be construed as a single inlet 7, but also locally divided into two, and the outlet openings 18, 19 construed as a single outlet 6.

With reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 it is easy to verify that, starting from the orientation of FIG. 7, in each case a slight rotation in one or the other direction is sufficient to reduce the passage cross-section between the inlet 7 and the outlet 6, but at the same time, depending on the direction of rotation, to either open a passage from inlet 9 to outlet 16 or from inlet 10 to outlet 17, wherein, with continued rotation, the cross-section of this passage increases to the same degree as that between inlet 7 and outlets 6 reduces. The flow resistance of the air distributor valve is therefore essentially independent of the orientation of the control body 20, only the distribution of air to the outlets 6, 16, 17 varies.

FIG. 10 shows, in a cross-section is similar to that of FIG. 7, a simplified variant of the air distributor valve. Here the control body in each of the sectional planes B, C, D only has one wall 40, 41 or 42 in each case. While the wall 40 directs air from inlet 7 to outlet 6, the walls 41, 42 each act as a butterfly valve in the blocked position which separates the inlets 9 from outlets 16 or the inlet 10 from outlet 17. If the control body 20 is rotated by 60 degrees in the clockwise direction or counterclockwise direction, one of the walls 41, 42 goes into an open position in each case while the other and also the wall 40 blocks off the valve.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic cross-section through a household refrigeration device in which an air distributor valve of the type described above, labeled 50 here, is installed. The refrigeration device is a combination refrigeration device with a cold lower zone 51 and a warmer upper zone 52, which are separated from one another by a horizontal partition wall 53. An intermediate wall 54 divides the cold zone 51 into a freezer chamber 55 and an evaporator chamber 56 disposed between the freezer chamber 55 and the partition wall 53. The warmer zone 52 contains a normal refrigeration chamber 63 and a fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62 for example.

Via suction openings 57 on a front edge of the intermediate wall 54 the evaporator chamber 56 communicates with the freezer chamber 55. Air which is entered into the evaporator chamber 56 via the suction openings 57 is sucked by a ventilator 58 through an evaporator 59 and reaches the inlet opening 2 of the air distributor valve 50 in an area of the evaporator chamber 56 close to the rear wall. From this area close to the rear wall a bypass 67 branches off downwards. Via said bypass a large part of the air flow, typically 50-75%, goes directly back into the freezer chamber 55. The rest of the air flow enters the air distributor valve 50 in order, depending on the position of the valve 50, to be supplied to the normal refrigeration chamber 63, the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62 or the freezer chamber 55.

The position of the air distributor valve 50 shown in FIG. 11 corresponds to that shown in FIG. 9. The air distributor valve 50 assumes this position if a temperature sensor disposed in the first storage chamber of the warmer zone 52, here the normal refrigeration chamber 63, signals the need for cool air. In this position the air distributor valve 50 connects the evaporator chamber 56 with the outlet 17 lying in the sectional plane and an air duct 61 connected thereto extending upwards in the rear wall 60 of the warm zone 52. The air duct 61 passes the lower storage chamber of the warm zone 52, here the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62, in order to open out into the normal refrigeration chamber 63 lying above it.

An air duct connected on that side of the sectional plane to the (not shown in FIG. 11) outlet 16 of the air distributor valve 50 opens out at 64 into the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62. The openings 18, 19 of the outlet 6 lying on both sides of the sectional plane open out via pipe sections 66 running on both sides from the ventilator 58 through the evaporator chamber 56 into the freezer chamber 55.

When the need for coolant of the normal refrigeration chamber 63 is met and a temperature sensor of one of the other chambers 62 or 55 signals the need for cooling, a switchover can be made to this compartment with the aid of the air distributor valve 50 without interrupting the air flow through the evaporator 59 in the interim.

To switch over from the orientation shown in FIG. 11 or 9 to that shown in FIG. 8 and thus to supply the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62, the air distributor valve 50 must pass through the position of FIG. 7 in which the freezer chamber 55 is supplied. Since the freezer chamber 55 has the greatest need for cooling, the orientation of FIG. 7 is the orientation that the air distributor valve 50 assumes most frequently, and the other orientations are able to be reached in each case with short adjustment paths. In the rather rare case of having to switch over between cooling of the normal refrigeration chamber 63 and cooling of the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62 it is not a further disruption for the freezer chamber 55 to also be briefly supplied in the interim with cooling air via the valve 50. Therefore the ventilator 58 can continue to run during the switchover. Were the valve 50 on the other hand in the position of FIG. 7 to supply one of the two warmer chambers 62, 63 with cold air, then in this chamber during a switchover between the other chambers an undesired undercooling could result.

Since the air throughflow through the evaporator 59 is independent of the position of the valve 50, the position of the valve 50 also does not influence the temperature of the cold air emerging from the evaporator chamber 56. Through the distribution of cold air to the valve 50 on the one hand and the bypass 67 on the other hand, it is possible despite this to set the air throughput in the normal refrigeration chamber 63 and in the fresh produce refrigeration chamber 62 lower than in the freezer chamber 55 and thus avoid a disproportionate cooling down of refrigerated produce in the warmer chambers.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS

1 Housing 2 Inlet opening 3 Wall 4 Wall 5 Web 6 Outlet 7 Inlet 8 Section 9 Inlet/section 10 Inlet/section 11 Section 12 Outlet opening 13 Wall 14 Wall 15 Web 16 Outlet 17 Outlet 18 Outlet opening 19 Outlet opening 20 Control body 21 Plate 22 Wall 23 Wall 24 Wall 25 Wall 26 Wall 27 Wall 28 Shaft pin 29 Chamber 30 Continuation 31 Electric motor 32 Orientation mark 33 Sensor 34 Outer wall 35 inner wall 36 Section 37 Section 38 Section 39 Section 40 Wall 41 Wall 42 Wall 50 Air distributor valve 51 Cold zone 52 Warm zone 53 Partition wall 54 Intermediate wall 55 Freezer chamber 56 Evaporator chamber 57 Suction opening 58 Ventilator 59 Evaporator 60 Rear wall 61 Air duct 62 Fresh produce refrigeration chamber 63 Normal refrigeration chamber 64 Mouth 65 Tube section 66 Door 67 Bypass 

1-15. (canceled)
 16. An air distributor valve, comprising: a housing having at least a first and a second inlet and at least a first and a second outlet; and a control body having an axis defining an axial direction, said control body being divided into at least first and second sections in said axial direction and said control body being rotatable in said housing about said axis between: a first open position in which said first section connects said first inlet to said first outlet and said second section blocks off said second outlet from said second inlet, and a second open position in which said first section blocks off said first outlet from said first inlet and said second section connects said second inlet to said second outlet.
 17. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, wherein said first and second inlets are aligned with each other in said axial direction.
 18. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, wherein said first section of said control body controls a passage of air between said first inlet and said first outlet, and said second section of said control body controls a passage of air between said second inlet and said second outlet.
 19. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, which further comprises: two walls each delimiting a respective one of said first inlet and said first outlet in a sectional plane running transverse to said axis; and said control body having two walls continuously connecting one of said walls of said inlet and one of said walls of said outlet to one another in said first open position.
 20. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, wherein said control body has an intermediate position between said first open position and said second open position in which: said control body connects said first inlet to said first outlet with a passage cross-section between said first inlet and said first outlet being smaller than in said first open position, and said control body connects said second inlet with said second outlet with a passage cross-section between said second inlet and said second outlet being smaller than in said second open position.
 21. The air distributor valve according to claim 20, wherein a sum of said passage cross-sections in said intermediate position is equal to a passage cross-section between said first inlet and said first outlet in said first open position and a passage cross-section between said second inlet and said second outlet in said second open position or lies between said passage cross-sections.
 22. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, wherein: said housing has a third inlet and a third outlet; and said control body has a third open position in which said third inlet is connected to said third outlet and said first and second inlets and said first and second outlets are blocked off from one another.
 23. The air distributor valve according to claim 22, wherein said control body has an intermediate position between said first open position and said third open position in which: said control body connects said first inlet to said first outlet with a passage cross-section between said first inlet and said first outlet being smaller than in said first open position, and said control body connects said third inlet to said third outlet with a passage cross-section between said third inlet and said third outlet being smaller than in said third open position.
 24. The air distributor valve according to claim 22, wherein said first, second and third inlets are aligned with one another in said axial direction, and at least one of said outlets is offset in a circumferential direction of said housing relative to others of said outlets.
 25. The air distributor valve according to claim 16, wherein the air distributor valve distributes cold air to various chambers of a refrigeration device.
 26. A refrigeration device, comprising: an air distributor valve according to claim 16; at least one first storage chamber into which said first outlet opens; and a second storage chamber into which said second outlet opens.
 27. The refrigeration device according to claim 26, which further comprises: an evaporator chamber connected to said inlets of said air distributor valve; and a bypass extended outside said air distributor valve from said evaporator chamber to one of said storage chambers.
 28. The refrigeration device according to claim 26, which further comprises a partition wall in which said air distributor valve is disposed, said at least one first storage chamber and said second storage chamber being disposed on different sides of said partition wall.
 29. The refrigeration device according to claim 28, wherein said first outlet is disposed on one side of said partition wall, and said inlets are disposed on the same one side of said partition wall as said first outlet.
 30. The refrigeration device according to claim 26, wherein: said housing has a third inlet and a third outlet; said control body has a third open position in which said third inlet is connected to said third outlet and said first and second inlets and said first and second outlets are blocked off from one another; said control body has an intermediate position between said first open position and said third open position in which: said control body connects said first inlet to said first outlet with a passage cross-section between said first inlet and said first outlet being smaller than in said first open position, said control body connects said third inlet to said third outlet with a passage cross-section between said third inlet and said third outlet being smaller than in said third open position; and a third storage chamber is connected to said third outlet.
 31. The refrigeration device according to claim 26, wherein: said housing has a third inlet and a third outlet; said control body has a third open position in which said third inlet is connected to said third outlet and said first and second inlets and said first and second outlets are blocked off from one another; said first, second and third inlets are aligned with one another in said axial direction, and at least one of said outlets is offset in a circumferential direction of said housing relative to others of said outlets; and a third storage chamber is connected to said third outlet.
 32. The refrigeration device according to claim 26, wherein the refrigeration device is a household refrigeration device. 